River Zilim

The river Zilim, covered with century old forests, flows from the eastern slopes of the Zilmerdak ridge (southern Urals) - its beauty is known far and wide outside the Bashkiria. The Zilim, length 215 km, is the right tributary of the river Belaya. It has many rapids, fords of different levels of complexity. In summer it is possible to raft from the confluence of the small rivers, “Small” and “Big Shishenyak” (tributaries of the Zilim), 154km to the river mouth. In the middle of April the ice breaks up leaving the river ice free after 5 days. The period of low water begins at the end of May and continues up to first half of June.

The river’s relief is divided into three sections:

The first section (61 km) stretches from the upper reaches up to the mouth of the river Big Shishenyak, then, starting from the village Butaevo the most complex part of the river (32 km) begins. The river meanders, has a stony bottom and pebbly banks on which the rocks (“Ostantsy”) rise. Its width ranges from 10 to 20 metres with depths during the drought period less than one metre flowing at speeds of 0.2m/s on pools and 1.2m/s on fords. In the spring the average depth on fords and rapids reaches 1-2 metres, and the velocity increases up to 3m/second. Below the village Butaevo is the most complex rapid – Kysykskii Proryv.

The second section (100 km) begins from the mouth of the river Big Shishenyak to the village Tash-Asty (on the opposite bank – the village Imendyashevo), after which the Zilim flows on a plain. The cave “Pobeda” is situated 4 km before the village Tash-Asty. In the second section, the river changes direction twice - in the beginning flowing northward to the village Zirecla and then westward to the village Tash-Asty. The river valley’s width ranges from 200 metres up to 1.5 km near the village Zirecla while the width of the river channel is only from 12 to 50 metres. During the drought period its depth changes from 0.2 up to 1.7 metres and the velocity on the fords – from 0.3 to 1.5 m/second. On the bottom of the river are small stones and reefs with some pebbly beaches on the banks.

The third section (57 km) stretches up to the confluence with the river Belaya. Here the Zilim is typical “flat-river”, with meadows and cultivated fields on the banks and near the confluence broad-leafed forests appear. In this section, the river is full flowing with sweeping bends - often with villages located on the banks, long pools and fords, and pebble islands - some covered with forest.

Our tours:
Rafting on the river Zilim